APD gifted with new bicycles

Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons, left, and Mayor Brant Walker, center, listen to Madison County Transit Managing Director Jerry Kane, right, explain how the two new American-made police bicycles, donated to the city by the transit district, work. The new bicycles, equipped with strobe lights and sirens, cost $2,500 each.

ALTON — Officers can zoom through Alton streets on yet, two more bicycles that Madison County Transit District gave the Alton Police Department on Wednesday, made extra sturdy for law enforcement.

“We have 128 miles of trails,” said Jerry Kane, MCT managing director. “This is a perfect marriage — police departments with bike patrols, and an agency with bike trails.” He said MCT is about “multi-modal transportation.”

Namely, police can ride bikes, then place them on racks on the front of the buses so officers can more easily get from one end of town to another, then resume their bicycle patrols.

If the racks are full, police only are allowed to place their bicycles inside the buses. On-duty police ride the buses for free.

Kane, along with Alton Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons, Mayor Brant Walker and three police officers, accepted the gift of two iForce police bicycles at the Confluence Trail just north of the National Great Rivers Museum and Melvin Price Locks and Dam 26.

A few minutes later, officer Adam Feldewerth and Pfc. Manuel Espinoza took the bikes down the smooth trail for their first spin. They wore long pants; if on patrol they would be wearing shorts, Simmons said.

APD already has had two bicycles for years. “They are 15 to 16 years old,” Simmons said. “I plan on increasing patrols Downtown. This is good exercise for them.”

In August 2013, Simmons held a ceremony in Riverfront Park to mark his reactivating the patrols after an eight-year hiatus and refurbishing the two older bikes. He said the patrols get police back into the neighborhoods, make them more accessible to residents and, at times, the officers are less visible and stealthier than cars as they come upon criminals.

Simmons said eight officers so far have volunteered to ride assigned bike patrols during daylight hours, plus Simmons occasionally. When there is a full shift on duty, officers may volunteer for the patrols. The opportunity is open to all officers, said Pfc. Emily Hejna, AFD public information officer.

“With this gift from MCT, citizens should look for officers on the bikes much more often,” she said. Officers first will view a 2.5-hour instructional video on operating the bikes and conducting patrols.

Tom Harp, owner of Wild Trak Bikes Inc., 1001 E. Broadway in Alton, also was present. Harp assembled the 27-speed, aluminum frame bicycles and will service them for police during hours his shop is open. He said he had consulted with Kane on type of bicycles to purchase for police departments.

“These are super fantastic bikes,” Harp said, and are lightweight despite their frames’ thick appearance. “With the low end gears, they should be able to climb any hill in Alton,” if the officers don’t opt for a bus ride.

Last week, the agency gave two bicycles each to Edwardsville and Maryville police departments, which both have MCT trails and utilize bike patrols.

Kane said iForce only makes bicycles for police and military law enforcement use, are made in the United States and cost $2,500 each. Each bike has small red, white and blue light “bars” on the fronts and rears; thumb-switch controlled” vehicle grade sirens emitting two varying types of sounds; flashing LED lights; puncture-resistant Kevlar tires; adjustable air shock and mechanical disc brakes for better stopping power.

Each bike also has a bag holding bicycle repair equipment over the rear wheel. Simmons said the bags also will hold traffic and parking citation tablets of tickets and, small “goodies for kids.”